The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being declared a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the judge said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of his move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.